We just arrived in Meknes about 45 minutes ago, and we are here until Thursday. We are staying at the Hotel Rif, and fortunately again, have wi-fi! Yay!

Before we made the five-hour trek to Meknes (yikes!), we saw some Tangier rotary projects this morning (orphanage and hospital), as well as the former US Consulate, which existed first in 1821! This was the FIRST consulate ever, as Morocco was the first to recognize America's independence. (Yes, there will be a pop quiz on this later. :)

The cool thing about this old consulate, which is now a museum, is that it contained both a resource library and a small library available to the public. It was started by the Peace Corps in 1992. This library is open to the public only on Saturdays and Sundays, because classes are held there during the week for Muslim women to learn Arabic

. How cool is that?! I told Yhtimad, the person who managed the space, that libraries in the Nicolet Library System (where I work), are now offering language classes for Spanish speakers. She said they used to offer classes for Spanish speakers, but they are looking for a new volunteer to teach the classes. Again, I would love to see ways in which our libraries can offer ideas or materials or see if there are ways we can collaborate on some things. Tres bien!!

The orphanage we visited was also very nice, as the local Rotary group in Tangier provides a lot of funding toward the upkeep. Everything was very clean and neat, and we could tell the children were well cared for, even though our hearts were breaking a little at the sight of them.

All for now....will write more as time and subjects permit! Au revoire!

PS: It appears that lots of people back home are following along on our travels, especially family, friends and people we've met along the way. I want to say a special "hello" to Julie, Karla and Jodi, who are fellow loved ones of ours. I'm glad you all enjoy reading the blog and seeing pics of all of us - I like doing this, and I'm glad it makes all of you feel better about us being here. :)

Comments

Thank you for taking the time to continue to update this blog. It is so great to be able to stay connected to you from thousands of miles away and still feel like we are a part of what you are experiencing everyday! Now you just need to help my mom out with learning some of this technical stuff. Good thing she took you along with her to help us stay connected!!! Say hi to my mom and the rest of group from us and we can't wait for you to get home and hear about your trip in person!

Thanks again Jamie I appreciate your note about those of us who follow your blog, as I do daily. I love the info concerning history and libraries, and am particularly interested in hearing about the orphanages, since I work with children in foster care. Thanks for educating us along with yourselves!